Football Zebras.com

The NFL is experimenting with a new clock operation system in the first preseason game in the new Meadowlands Stadium. During tonight’s Giants–Jets game (Jets are the designated home team), the new Precision Time System devices will be worn by four officials on their belts to start and stop the clock.

As reported by Sean Leahy of the USA Today, the vice president of officiating, Carl Johnson, said, “If we have the potential to time our games with more precision, then we will pursue all avenues, including experimenting with alternate methods to accomplish that goal.”

Walt Coleman will be tonight’s referee.

Update: During the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, the play clock became inoperative. From what we can tell, the 25-second clock is not operated by the PTS system.

The NFL has ramped up its policy on avoiding concussions, and the policy has not excluded the referees. With high speed collisions involving the umpire position, the NFL has permanently moved the umpire to the offensive backfield, nine years after a pilot program of the switch was tried in the 2001 preseason.

The most violent collision from the 2009 season didn’t even involve the umpire, but a back judge covering a kickoff return. Rich Reels was bruised up quite a bit and had to sit a week out when he was caught off balance and hit by an upfield blocker. In addition to Reels’ injury, there were reports of concussions and other injuries. The league even considered giving the umpire a helmet.

The umpire position will be opposite the referee in the offensive backfield.

The umpire will now be located in the offensive backfield, rather than the center of the defensive backfield. The umpire will operate on the side opposite the referee, who is generally positioned on the side of the quarterback’s throwing arm. However, after the two minute warning in either half, the umpire will return to the defensive backfield.

There are no changes indicated in the 2010 NFL rule book under the umpire’s duties as a result of this change. (Oddly, the position of the umpire is not and never was discussed in the rule book, despite other officials’ positions being indicated.) However, there is a private manual for officials that express finer details of officiating mechanics which was overhauled.

The umpire will have to quickly set in position after maintaining the ball spot at the line of scrimmage. Once an offense comes to the line, the umpire must retreat to the offensive backfield (while avoiding the players moving from the huddle to the line of scrimmage) rather than a few yards behind the ball. Usually, the offense has to wait about a second for the umpire to be set, but it will likely take longer with the new positioning.

It will be interesting to see some of the bugs worked out in the preseason, and we will update you on any refinements as we are aware of them.

The original image used in the illustration is credited to Pats1 at en.wikipedia.

The officials (and their uniform numbers) for the Hall of Fame Game between the Bengals and the Cowboys:

• R Ron Winter (14)
• U Butch Hannah (40)
• HL John McGrath (5)
• LJ Darryll Lewis (130)
• SJ Steve Zimmer (33)
• BJ Rick Patterson (15)
• FJ Perry Paganelli (46)

In the replay booth are the replay assistant Ken Baker and video operator Jim Grant.

The officiating supervisors for the game are Ed Coukart and new vice-president of officiating Carl Johnson.

Please leave your comments on the calls of the game in this article, and we will address them during the week.

With an unbelievable amount of candor, referee Bill Leavy admitted that he made game-changing mistakes when he officiated Super Bowl XL in February 2006—mistakes that helped propel the Steelers over the Seahawks.

It was immediately branded as one of the worst called Super Bowls in history. The Seattle Times ran a list of six questionable calls that illustrates the frustration on the Seahawks sideline, beyond the frustration with the team’s own performance (see the list below).

Leavy’s comments came during the preseason rounds by the officials to brief players in training camp of new rule changes. Leavy apologized for, in his estimation, two late-stretch calls that helped the Steelers put the game away:

It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that. It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better … I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn’t good enough … When we make mistakes, you got to step up and own them. It’s something that all officials have to deal with, but unfortunately when you have to deal with it in the Super Bowl it’s difficult.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren addressed a crowd in Seattle after the loss saying he “didn’t know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.” The NFL reviewed his comments, but did not fine him. However, the conspiracy machine was churning so hard, that NFL spokeman Greg Aiello released this statement two days after the game:

The game was properly officiated, including, as in most NFL games, some tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials.

That, essentially, still rings true. Leavy and his crew failed on a few calls, but it is a part of the game. There were no misapplications of the rules or crew mechanics, so all the calls in question were judgment calls. Good teams are able to overcome bad calls just as much as adverse weather conditions. For instance, a questionable holding penalty can be blamed on the referee, but an interception thrown three plays later also has to balance out the conversation.

The Seattle Times “6 Key Plays”

• Offensive pass interference nullifies touchdown
• Dropped pass could have been ruled catch & fumble
• Replay review upheld Steelers touchdown
• Touchdown reception denied for contact with pylon
• Questionable holding call nullifies first-and-goal
• Illegal block called when it appears there was no contact